CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSSTSgt. Hannum was taken prisoner on 23 December 1941, after the fall of Wake Island. On 22 January 1942, he was one of five Americans executed aboard the Nitta Maru as revenge for Japanese casualties at Wake.
The beheadings were botched, and the prisoners mutilated, before being thrown into the sea.

Biography:
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Articles and Records:

The Mason City Globe-Gazette ran this feature on 10 June 1943. Ernest Vaale, George Molloy, and Gordon Krysen survived captivity; Lloyd James was erroneously reported as captured but in fact was stationed on Johnston Island.

The Mason City Globe Gazette 10 June 1943.

The truth about the execution, reported in the Minneapolis Star on 23 December, 1947.

Photo Gallery:

Earl Hannum, in service before the war. The ace of spades patch was the insignia of the old VMS-2 squadron – later VMSB-231. Hannum served with this unit from 1937 until late 1941. Photo found on ancestry.com

Earl was my great uncle. His brother was my grandfather Lawrence George Hannum – aka George Lawrence or just plane Buck Hannum and my mother was Maurine Evelyn Hannum. Looking for a way to get this info on his profile in Ancestry